There’s never a dull season as a Leicester City fan. Some would argue we’re owed a quiet year where nothing happens on or off the pitch. That won’t be 2023/24. Where our on-field exploits should be keeping us all busy, other worries are creeping in again.
At the time of writing, Leicester are top of the Championship, though Leeds have the advantage of playing their next league fixture while the Foxes will be on FA Cup duty. We’ve been there since the August bank holiday last year. We have an exciting manager, a pretty likeable squad (hell, I love a number of them) and we are on course to bounce back to the Premier League at the first time of asking. Yet the question I keep asking is, shouldn’t I be more excited?
Personally, my downturn in excitement has very little to do with the on pitch performances. Most of the time I can see what Maresca is trying to do even if it isn’t always working. Because when we are on top form, it’s glorious to watch. Some of the goals we’ve scored and the assists, individually and from a full team move to set them up have been scintillatingly good.
We actually have a team of people who all have good first touches for once. I would argue we have an identity that was so sorely lacking last year on the pitch. Even at our worst this year, I’d rather watch that each week than the naive garbage we were served up last year and told to stop complaining about.
The thing is, I was still pretty excited before January and the transfer window started. Excitement is probably the last word that has sprung to mind since. The signs were there in January and looking back on it now, maybe the ridiculous rumours of us selling Dewsbury-Hall should have been the warning sign. But the club didn’t say anything, so we didn’t need to panic…right?
I was still feeling fairly positive even recently. I was buzzing after the Bournemouth FA Cup win and it’s been a pretty fast deflation as the financial news broke and then grew legs. Since January, all of the off pitch news has been negative and this last week has been a taste of a cruel summer that likely awaits us. Even in my non-financial expert reading of the possible charges and the club’s failings, it’s damned if we do get promoted and royally damned if we don’t.
Promotion is the best option (the prospect of fluffing that up for the financial aspect doesn’t really bear thinking about) but if we start it by losing our identity, any of our sellable prospects and being bottom on minus points in what was already going to be a tough season – what exactly is there to be excited about as a fan? Were our worst fears to come to pass, you wouldn’t be surprised if one of the many vacant spots would be the manager’s. It certainly isn’t what Enzo Maresca signed up for.
A lot of Leicester fans’ reaction to the financial news this week has been either panic and dread or making a joke out of it, because we’d just be crying otherwise. A large portion of TFW’s WhatsApp group was dedicated to thinking of creative ways to fundraise for the club. I definitely think there’s legs to a sort of player auction where fans can buy a player for the day. Who wouldn’t bid high for a night out with Jamie Vardy or to join Mads Hermansen for a dog walk?
We’re left talking about ridiculous things like this because not many at a fan level know what any of it means. We’re not qualified in the legal ramifications or the possible get out of jail free cards that could be deployed. Trying to wrap your head around the various rules and how we’ve possibly breached them seems pretty mind-boggling. There’s some great content out there but it’s all speculative.
